Homemade Sponge Cake Recipe (Banh Bong Lan)

Introduced by the French, sponge cakes are popular sweets in the Vietnamese repertoire. They’re enjoyed plain as a great snack or part of the dessert grazing spread, and can be purchased in most Viet bakeries abroad. However, like with many foods, the cake is often much better when made at home.

When I was a kid (ahem, in the 70s), my mother, sisters and I used to regularly turn out many bánh bông lan, which literally means “blooming orchid cake”, a nicer moniker than sponge cake. After we arrived in the US, we were thrilled at the vast and relatively inexpensive supply of refined sugar and butter. We went on a baking binge and scoured libraries and joined Book-of-the-Month clubs to read up on sponge cake recipes.

Week after week, we baked the glorious, airy cakes, which perfumed our home with sweet smells. First they were plain and round, flavored with vanilla. Then we baked them in loaf pans and topped them with a mixture of ground pork and onion for a treat called bánh bông lan thịt. (It sounds weird but it is a known Viet entity and an unusual savory sweet combination! There’s another version where you mix chopped dried shrimp and thinly sliced Chinese sweet sausage into the batter too.)

Let’s cut to the recipe, which is essentially a French butter sponge cake called biscuit au beurre. Note that most Viet recipes for bánh bông lan sponge cake do not employ butter. It is expensive in Vietnam. And, the French approach sometimes omits the butter too. However, a bit o’ butter in the batter yields a slightly richer flavor and creamier texture.

It is a remarkably simple combination of ingredients but the Devil is in the details. Before launching into making the cake, remember these points:

Ingredients:

Use the best ingredients you can afford, like fresh eggs, high quality butter, and pure vanilla.

Have the ingredients at room temperature.

Cream of tartar acts as a stabilizer for egg whites; it’s stocked in the spice aisle of regular supermarkets.

Cake flour is lighter and produces tender results since it has lower gluten content. Find it in the flour and starch aisle of regular supermarkets. It’s sold in boxes.

Equipment:

A cheap handheld mixer will do. For Luddites, hand whip using a balloon whisk.

You will be working quickly so start by readying all the equipment and measuring out all the ingredients.

This is a non-collapsible soufflé. There’s a beaten egg base of yolks and sugar into which you add a beaten egg whites and flour. There’s more flour here than in a soufflé, which is why the cake hold up as it cools.

Master a plain cake first before going off on creative riffs. See the Note and Variation section at the end for details.

Sponge CakeBánh Bông Lan

Makes 1 cake

Start by preparing the pan. Use a 4-cup pan, like a high-sided (with a 2″ wall) 8-inch round or square, or an 11″ x 17″ sponge sheet. To prepare the pan, smear a bit of softened butter to lightly coat the bottom and side. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Smear the parchment paper with a bit more butter. Add ¼ to ½ cup all-purpose flour (depending on the size of the pan) and shake and turn the pan around to coat it. Standing over the sink, invert and tap the pan to remove excess flour. Set aside.

Now put a rack in the lower third position and preheat to 350F. Then, have your mixer (or whisk) and rubber spatula handy. Finally, gather the ingredients and organize yourself so you can move swiftly and smoothly through the process.

For finishing the batter:1/3 cup plus ¼ cup cake flour (such as Swans Down brand) scooped and leveled into a sifter set over a piece of parchment or plate (measure 1/3 cup then measure 1/4 cup for 7/12 cup total!)3 tablespoons tepid melted, unsalted butter (keep cooled butter on stove to avoid solidification)

1. Start beating the egg yolks in the bowl. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar by the tablespoon to incorporate well. (Do this too fast and the batter will be grainy with sugar.) Continue beating for several minutes, until the mixture is thick, pale yellow, and when you pause and lift the whisk (or beaters), the batter drips down and forms a ribbon that slowly dissolves on the surface. Now, beat in the vanilla. Set aside.

2. Wash and dry the whisk (or beaters) well.

3. Start beating the egg whites. When they are foamy throughout, sprinkle in the salt and cream of tartar. Continue beating until soft peaks form (when the whisk (or beaters) is lifted out of the egg whites, a soft, slightly bent over peak of egg white forms in the bowl). As you beat, the whites will have gone from clear to light grey to solid white. Instead of sliding from the walls of the bowl, they will stick to the bowl.

After soft peaks form, sprinkle in the 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating for a couple more minutes to generate stiff egg whites (the peak stands straight when the whisk is lifted from the bowl). The whites will have a sheen.

4. Immediately take a large rubber spatula and plop a ¼ of the egg whites into the egg yolk base. Stir gently to lighten the base. Then plop 1/3 of the remaining whites onto the base. Sift ¼ of the flour on top. Delicately and quickly use the spatula to fold the ingredients together, until they are nearly all incorporated. (To fold, plunge the spatula sideways – like a knife – into the center of the batter, touching bottom. Rapidly bring the spatula to the wall of the bowl and rotate it to scoop up and fold the batter over the whites and flour. Do this several times.)

Repeat with another 1/3 of the remaining whites and 1/3 of the remaining flour. Fold again until almost blended.

Fold in ½ of the remaining whites, ½ of the remaining flour. Fold again until almost blended. Fold in the remaining whites and remaining flour. Fold again until nearly blended. At that point, pour in the melted butter in a circle. Quickly fold it into the batter (do not overblend or the batter will deflate). The finished batter will be pale yellow, very thick, and light feeling.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. It should fill to about ¼ inch of the rim. Scoop out extra batter to avoid overflow during baking.

6. Use the spatula to spread the batter out evenly in the pan. Tilt the pan in all direction to slightly push the batter toward the rim. This prevents a domed-center during baking.

7. Gently slide the cake into the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The cake will rise slowly and then brown. The cake is done when its puff sinks slightly and the sides show a faint line of shrinkage from the edges of the pan.

8. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. (It will deflate and pull away from the pan walls.) Run a knife all around the edge, between the cake and the pan. Invert the cake onto your hand (or back on the rack), give the cake bottom a tap, and then remove the cake pan. Peel off the parchment paper and discard. Invert the cake, top side up, onto the rack. Allow to cool completely (about 1 hour) before eating, filling, or icing.

Notes and Variations

When baking the cake in advance, slip it into a zip-top bag after it has cooled. Refrigerate it for 2 to 3 days or freeze it for several weeks.

Finely grated citrus zest may be added to the egg yolk base. Substitute it for the vanilla or work it in along with the vanilla. About 1 1/2 teaspoons will do.

You may omit the melted butter, if you like a lighter, more spongy, chewier result.

Sift some ground spice or cocoa powder in with the cake flour for flavor variation.

See the Christmas Yule Log recipe for an almond tangerine version that’s a little richer.

Hi 🙂
I just tried this recipe, search for a long time a recipe for banh bong lan. I’m living in germany, so there aren’t any cups for measurements. I found a website where i can convert those cups in “grams”. I made a strawberry cake with heavy whipped cream similar to the strawberry and cream layer cake. But the only thing that didn’t work is that the cake didn’t rise? i used baking powder instead of cream of tartar( because it’s hard to find here) because i heard it’s similar to cream of tart

Trieu — The cake rose but it didn’t stay up. Baking powder kinda assures that it does.
The amount of flour — 1 cup of cake flour = 4.375 ounces = 124 grams. You need 7/12 of a cup, so that’s 72 grams of cake flour.
Other factors are that the cake needed to bake longer (check you oven temperature) and that you over blended. But I feel that maybe it’s the flour?

Hi 🙂
Thanks for replying 🙂
72 grams of cake flour.. exactly the amount i used!They don’t sell cake flour in Germany, so i searched for a “recipe” for cake flour: normal (wheat)flour and starch flour. After i added both according to the recipe i had the so-called “cake flour” that i used in the sponge cake. I think i bake the cake long enough.. is there a possibility that i bake the cake TOO long that it flattened? Maybe because in Germany they just use the 10-inch pan?
Soon after the first try

Hello Andrea,
I am planning to make this cake for my mother’s birthday next week. I stumbled upon your site googling for the Vietnamese words I saw written on a pack of flour (I was looking for cake flour you see…) The pack says “sponge cake flour” and banh bong lan Rooster Brand, made in Australia. Now I think it’s a cake mix. I thought I finally found the holy grail of flours only to discover it’s still a “myth” here in New Zealand. You know what’s funny? Flour manufacturers sell them to pro

Hossana — I’ve never tried the loaf pan as that is more for a pound cake. I think the photo on the package is not reliable, especially if it’s from Vietnam. They may have just take a photo from somewhere.

I’m very new to baking but I’m planning on baking this cake in the morning. If it goes well, I will bake another for my niece’s birthday next week. We’ve always enjoyed the fruit spongecake from asian bakeries, they’re so simple, light, and delicious! Love the whipped cream too!
I stumbled across Swans Down cake flour which I didn’t know existed! And I remember its the one you suggested in this recipe so I got it right away!
I’m very glad I came across this recipe. Thank you so much!
I don’t ha

I’m back to update on my baking!
The cake itself turned out just okay. It was a little dense, not light as I wanted or imagined. Did I do something wrong? I used only about 1.5 tablespoons of butter, other than that everything else followed the recipe.
I also made the whipped cream frosting that you had on the strawberry recipe. (1/5 cups heavy cream) … I added a little more sugar for a sweeter taste, but somehow the cream taste was heavy. Is there a way that I can get a less heavy taste? Can

I loved this recipe! Thank you so much Andrea. I grew up in Australia and live so far from the Vietnamese areas that I rarely get to eat these cakes.. only for special occasions. I am going to make one now for my grandmothers 80th.. all the family are coming so it will be a very nice touch. Thank you again! PS I love your website.

I am really enjoying the theme/design of your blog. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility issues? A couple of my blog readers have complained about my website not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?

Thuong and Vi: Using half of the butter will result in a dry cake. It’s the fat in the cake. The first time out with making a cake like this, use exactly the measurements I suggest and see how it turns out.
This is a light cake, though. As for it being dense, how thick was your cake? You need to prep the ingredients and equipment well.
Try again, if you like.
For the whipped cream, maybe you didn’t whip it enough? Cooking well takes practice. Give it another try. Good luck and thanks for reachin

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Hello, this site was created and maintained by me — Andrea Nguyen. Based in Northern California, I’m a James Beard Award-winning author, freelance writer, editor, cooking teacher, and consultant. Let’s dig in →